


5 ways they said i love you, 1 time they didn’t have to

by k1kth



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k1kth/pseuds/k1kth
Summary: they were really never one for words, so they show it instead.
Relationships: Suki/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75
Collections: Suki x Zuko unread





	5 ways they said i love you, 1 time they didn’t have to

**Author's Note:**

> this took me a whole month to finish and it's unbeta'd but i'm very proud of this because zuki has become one of my fave pairings despite having absolutely no content whatsoever and writing nearly 8k words of them is very new to me. this is dedicated to zphc for making me laugh everyday without fail and always hyping me up and to every other newfound zuki stan. i hope y'all like it!

i.

“Shields!” 

There was the synchronized clanging of metal against each other and the scuffs of shoes against cement before Zuko fully registers the shape in front of him.

“Impressive,” he says, nodding approvingly at the warriors huddled together in the middle of the training yard, shields above their heads in an attempt to mimic a turtleduck’s shell. 

“Isn’t it?” Suki preens proudly next to him, arms crossed against her chest as she looks down upon her warriors from the steps leading down into the large space vacated for the sole purposes of training and sparring.

It’s springtime in the caldera, the heat just humid enough to keep everyone constantly sweaty but still cool against the raging sun in the clear skies above the Fire Nation. Luckily for them, the Kyoshi warriors weren’t on duty so they were out of their typical uniforms and makeup as they huffed and sweated through Suki’s rigorous training.

Zuko, as Fire Lord, was training with them as well considering the Kyoshi warriors were his own personal guard— and his personal close friends.

“Ty Lee, shift your body closer to Aiko. There’s an opening between your shield and Riyu’s,” Suki says.

“Aye-aye, cap!” the girl says before shuffling herself into position.

“Hold!” Suki commands then, all laughter gone from her voice as she proves once again to Zuko her capabilities as Captain of his guard. 

The courtyard waits with bated breath as Suki’s eyes examine the warriors, looking for flaws and imperfections in their stances. Zuko can feel the tension and even holds his own breath as the joint huffs of the warriors echo from underneath their shields. There’s a split second where Zuko thinks the Captain is about to demand another formation but he catches the twitch in her lips and finally exhales in relief himself, seeing her own body slouch and relax next to him.

“And drop.” The girls release their sighs and their tense forms as they crumble out from under their positions, some of them even going so far as dropping and lying on their backs against the warm concrete. “Great job today, girls.”

“I think my arm is gonna break,” one of the warriors— Kana— groans from her spot on the ground.

Zuko chuckles as he and Suki make their way down the steps towards them. 

“It wasn’t even that hard,” Zuko says crouching down next to Kana, reaching his hand out to ruffle her hair. The younger girl clicks her teeth and swats his hand away with a scowl, though there wasn’t any heat behind it, and Zuko laughs as he tries to reach over again.

“Says you,” Ty Lee pipes up from a couple feet away, “Why don’t you hold a 30 pound gold shield over your head for five minutes.”

“Ooh, can’t. Biyu would kill me if I tore my robes.”

Suki scoffs, settling herself down next to the firebender in a lotus position. “Holding up a shield won’t tear your robes, Zuko. Stop being dramatic.”

“But oh, the wrinkles!” Zuko exclaims dryly. The warriors giggle as their Captain levels the Firelord with a blank stare, although her lips twitch against a grin.

“You’re not funny,” Suki tells him, yanking on his hair. The firebender chuckles lowly and Suki promptly turns towards the others.

The warriors quiet their conversations with each other and turn their attention to their Captain, chests still heaving in an attempt to gather more air and calm themselves down from their workout.

“You girls did great today. Solid holding on the turtleduck and badgermole formations and vast improvement on the sword stances Piandao taught us a couple weeks ago.” She swivels her head to smile at Zuko, who answers her with a small grin. “I think we’re all getting better with the assassination attempts, aren’t we?”

Zuko rolls his eyes as the girls snicker. 

“I can take care of myself, you know? I _am_ a master firebender.”

“Yeah, but you hired us,” Ty Lee retorts, cheery as always.

“You can never have too many guards,” Aiko says, and with a shrug adds, “Plus, we’re better than your regular guards.”

The other warriors nod and murmur in agreement.

Zuko can’t disagree with the younger girl either. Aside from being some of his best friends in the palace and keeping him from being lonely as he and other members of team Avatar, except Suki, have split ways, the Kyoshi warriors were perhaps the most formidable group of fighters he’s ever met and seen in his entire life. 

Of course he’s seen this before when he burnt down their village years ago (he still feels bad about that but the girls never let him live it down in a joking manner), but actually working and training with them is a whole other story. Years of teamwork have cemented their bond with each other which then in turn strengthens the way they communicate with just body language and facial expressions. It’s like they collectively have a hive mind and ever since hiring them nearly six years ago, Zuko’s come to the conclusion that he really wouldn’t have anyone else guarding him.

He trusts these girls more than anyone else— except for maybe Uncle Iroh— but still, despite what their job has them do, he doesn’t want any of them dying for him. Especially Suki. 

“Still,” Zuko says and the mood shifts as he frowns, “I don’t want you guys dying for me.”

Suki rests her hand upon his arm and the others shuffle closer to huddle around them. 

“Zuko, it’s our job to protect you. We knew what could happen to us if something goes wrong the minute we agreed to leave Kyoshi Island and help you.”

Worried gold meets reassuring blue as the others watch on. 

“Also,” Suki smirks. “I think we’ve gotten good enough to avoid dying, don’t you think, girls?”

The warriors cheer in response, bringing a laugh out of Zuko’s chest, but the worried furrow between his brows don’t leave. 

The others start to converse with each other, leaving the Captain of the Kyoshi warriors and the firelord to their own privacy. Suki’s hand doesn’t leave Zuko’s arm. 

“I meant what I said, you know,” Zuko starts, “You don’t always have to protect me. I know it’s your job and all but if I can do something about it, I’m not letting you die for me.”

Suki rolls her eyes but shuffles closer so they’re pressed side to side, shoulder to hip. She looks up at him then, soft eyes gazing at him. 

“When will you get it through your head that we _want_ to? That if it came down to it, we’d choose you every time.”

“Okay, but _you_ don’t have to.”

Suki loops her arm around the Firelord’s and leans her head against his shoulder as they watch the warriors, their friends, talk and joke around with each other under the scorching humidity of the Fire Nation sun. 

“You’re my best friend, Zuko. **I’ll always want to protect you.** ”

ii.

Zuko isn’t expecting anyone else in the kitchens that early in the morning.

The sun’s barely over the rim of the caldera and he’s already in his Firelord robes, crown situated comfortably in his topknot, prepared for the back-to-back meetings he has in an hour or so with his advisors and later, with some visiting governors from the outskirts of the Fire Nation.

The cooks and maids are beginning to file into the kitchen when he makes his way inside, bowing his head in courtesy to them as they greet him good morning, but all his attention is to the slumped form sitting at the island counter, head buried in her arms.

“Well, good morning to you, Captain,” the Firelord says with a smirk, rounding the island to stand in front of the figure.

Suki groans but doesn’t lift her head. Zuko leans his arms against the counter, sipping noisily at his tea as he continues to watch the younger woman’s unmoving form with mischief in his eyes.

“Oh, for Agni’s sake, could you stop?” Suki finally says with narrowed eyes. Her face is paler than usual and her eyebags are deeper, hair messy. She’s obviously had a rough night.

“I see last night went well,” Zuko teases.

“A little too well, I think,” Suki mumbles, banging her forehead against her forearms. The firebender laughs as he reaches over so her forehead bangs against his palm instead and he gets another glare in response. 

Suki can barely open her eyes against the sunlight starting to shine through the windows and though there aren’t many people in the kitchens yet, the increasing amount of noise makes her grimace.

“What’s the damage this time?”

A beat of silence passes between them as Suki struggles to bring herself up to rest her face against her hand. 

“Fire whiskey.”

Zuko chokes on his tea and throws his head back in laughter. Suki groans again as the rough edges of his voice echo around the room.

“Stop laughing at me! Ty Lee made us drink it,” she says petulantly.

“You know never to let Ty Lee choose the bar, especially the ones near the docks,” Zuko replies, running his thumb against his bottom lip to wipe away any tea he may have spilled out of his mouth. 

The warrior flits her eyes away as she turns her head away from the sunlight.

“I didn’t wanna ruin the fun!” she pouts.

“You couldn’t have settled for rum?” A smirk plays at Zuko’s lips and if her head wasn’t trying to collapse into itself at the moment, Suki may have even reached over for the fruit bowl and thrown something at him.

“It sounded like a good idea at the moment,” she mutters under her breath. Zuko hums, continuing to sip at his tea and Suki takes the time to actually look at him.

He’s definitely more ready for the day than her, as she was still wearing her robes from last night and her hair still unwashed. Even as he stood in front of her, and just her, Zuko really looked like the Firelord he was, regal down to the smallest detail.

“I see you’re dressed up early,” Suki says.

“I have a day full of meetings today and unfortunately, the first one is in about an hour,” he tells her with a frown. 

Suki’s face mirrors his. “Doesn’t sound too fun.”

Zuko sighs. “No, not really.” His eyes meet hers as his eyebrow quirks up. “What about you? Anything planned today or are you too hungover?”

The brunette huffs as she slowly gets up from her stool, holding onto the counter edge as she tries to make her way towards the stove.

“My brain is trying its hardest to not bang itself to death so no, I will be sleeping the whole day off. I just made my way down here to make myself some oolong tea but I had to sit down before I threw up.”

Zuko looks down at the cup in his hand and his arm shoots up to grab Suki’s arm before she makes her way behind him where the stove is.

She looks at him confused as he holds his cup of tea towards her, still warm and fairly full.

**“You can have mine.”**

iii.

“I think he’s ready.”

Suki looks up from the scroll she’s reading to meet Zuko’s eyes. 

“Who?”

Zuko nearly bounces on his feet as he answers. “Druk!”

The Kyoshi warrior’s eyes widen in disbelief as she stares down her best friend. “Ready for _what_?”

“His first ride!” Zuko takes the last couple steps towards her and reaches down to grab her hand, pulling her up to stand, the scroll left behind underneath the cherry blossom tree she was so comfortably situated under. 

The Fire Lord, taking advantage of his rare days off, runs through the gardens then through the hallways with Suki dragging behind him all the way to the very same courtyard where Zuko faced his sister with Katara at the end of the war, the same courtyard where he united the nations with Aang by his side at his coronation, and now, the same courtyard where his 20 foot pet dragon is currently lying down in. 

The dragon blinks red beady eyes at them as they approach, Zuko skidding to a stop in front of his face.

“Hey, buddy,” the Fire Lord says, letting go of Suki’s hands to scratch the top of Druk’s snout. The dragon rumbles in response, body lifting up to stand. 

“Are you sure he’s ready, Zuko?” Suki asks worriedly, still standing a few feet away from him and Druk.

Zuko barely takes his eyes away from his animal companion as he answers. “The Sun Warriors told me that dragons grow fast but age slow, and Druk’s five now. He’s hardly a baby anymore.”

Suki trails her eyes along the dragon skeptically, following along the shine of his scales and the lines of his tail all the way to his wings. She wouldn’t say she was intimidated by the dragon itself per say, but rather with the fact that Druk was slimmer than Appa and thus, faster and more accident-prone considering the lack of a saddle.

She really hoped Zuko didn’t want her riding the dragon today.

“Okay, so he’s ready for his first ride but why am I here?” 

Zuko looks back at her over his shoulder with flushed cheeks and a toothy grin. 

“Isn’t it obvious? I want you there with me.”

Suki’s mouth drops. “You’re kidding.”

The firebender looks around with furrowed eyebrows. “No, why would I?”

Suki chuckles breathily. “You want me riding up with you on a 20 foot _dragon_ with no saddle maybe 100 feet up in the sky?”

Zuko shrugs. “We’ve ridden Appa.”

“Appa is _way_ slower than a dragon and we had a _saddle_.”

“We’ve literally gone to _war_ together and you’re concerned about _saddles_?” Zuko laughs.

Suki huffs and crosses her arms, tearing her blue eyes away from Zuko’s golden ones full of mischief.

“It’s a valid concern!”

Zuko shakes his head and Suki can’t explain it, but it feels like Druk was judging her too. 

“I didn’t peg you as someone who was afraid of heights,” Zuko tells her honestly.

“It’s not the height thing…” she trails off.

The Fire Lord hums. “Is it the dragon thing?”

“...Maybe.”

Zuko looks up and steps away from Druk towards Suki, grabbing her hand and leading her over to the dragon. Suki’s heart races as the heat from Druk’s exhale washes over her skin, paired with the warm hand encasing hers that settles it against Druk’s snout.

“I promise he’s nice,” Zuko tells her with a soft smile. 

“I know he’s nice. I’ve been here all his life, you know,” she says defensively.

Zuko doesn’t say anything. 

Suki continues to pet Druk, who purrs and keens under her soft hands scratching against his rough skin. Zuko sighs and steps aside, making his way towards the saddle just tucked behind Druk’s ears.

Suki raises an eyebrow as she watches him. “Uh, what are you doing?”

The Fire Lord wiggles himself to fit comfortably on the saddle, then with a mischievous grin, holds his hand out to the captain of his guard. Suki stares at the open palm skeptically.

“C’mon,” the firebender urges, **“I won’t let you go, I promise.”**

Suki looks up from his hand and the smile he gives her is so soft, so comforting, and her posture falters. She takes a deep breath and steels herself. His hand is warm in hers and they shouldn’t fit so perfectly but they do and she braces herself even more when he scoots back and fits her body in front of his, his arms securing her as he takes the reins. 

“Hold on tight,” he tells her with humor in his voice and she nearly opens her mouth to yell at him, to stop him from taking them hundreds of feet in the air, but with his breath against her ear and the hard planes of his body lining against her back, she’s distracted and barely conceals the scream that escapes her throat as she’s thrown back against him and the wind is whipping against her face.

iv.

Her mouth is dry and there’s a loud humming in her ears when she first comes into consciousness. There’s an ache in her muscles that she knows wasn’t there before and she finds it odd just how easily she can feel the slow rush of blood pumping through her veins.

Suki groans and tries to bring her hands up to rub away the sleep from her eyes, only to find the restrictions against her arms. 

She hangs her head in resignation and sighs. “Not again.”

Suki shakes off the lingering traces of unconsciousness from her mind and takes in her surroundings.

It’s dark, but not dark enough for her to not see the green of her skirt— and the tatters and dirt now covering it— or the corners of the cell she’s thrown in. One wriggle to test her restraints and she realizes that she’s tied up with someone else, someone warm and as deeply unconscious as she was. She cranes her head until there’s an ache in her neck and catches the burgundy reds and accents of gold and her heart lurches. 

“Psst. Zuko,” she whispers, shoving her shoulder against his and poking his palm with her finger from where they’re touching. “Zuko, wake up.”

A low groan comes from the Fire Lord. Suki gently knocks her head against Zuko’s to wake him up even further.

“Hey. C’mon, Zu. Wake up.”

Suki can feel Zuko’s breathing change as he starts to come to more. Suki, despite still being half-drugged, stays vigilant.

“What in Agni— Suki?” the firebender mumbles.

Suki sighs in relief as she takes Zuko’s hand in hers and squeezes. ‘Yeah, Zu, it’s me.”

“Where… are we?”

The warrior blows air through her teeth as she slumps against him. “Somewhere in Ba Sing Se, that’s all I know.”

Zuko’s body tenses as he finally lets go of the last dregs of unconsciousness and becomes as alert as his partner. 

“What happened?”

“Last thing I remember is escorting you from the palace to Iroh’s tea shop—” Suki pivots her head towards Zuko, her eyebrows furrowed, “—because _you_ decided to take a _walk_ instead of the palanquin!”

Zuko freezes. “I _wanted_ to feel _normal_ for once instead of, you know, the sole leader of a _nation_.”

Suki feels an unexplained wave of anger wash over her and alone in their dark, pungent little cell, both their voices start to raise without any regard for the people, if any, outside. “And I was fine with that! But I _told_ you that we should at _least_ bring two of the other warriors!”

“They’re unnecessary—”

“—You’re the Fire Lord and you always need a whole team of security—”

“I don’t want anyone else but you!”

Suki shuts up. She hears nothing but the beating of her own heart and the heavy breathing from Zuko behind her. She hears him take a deep breath and sigh, the tension in his body loosening a bit.

“Look,” Zuko starts, “I _trust_ you to protect me, and _you_ trust _me_ to protect myself when I need to.”

“Zu—”

“I don’t ever want to doubt you, okay?” The firebender swivels so they’re looking at each other from their peripherals and Suki’s breath catches in her throat. “We’ll get out of this alive. I promise.”

Suki’s breath shakes as she inhales, nodding her head. She smirks, knocking her shoulder back against his. “Of course we will. We’re the Fire Lord and the Kyoshi Warrior. Who can ever defeat us?”

Zuko’s laugh fills the darkness. “Exactly. We’ve had six years to perfect our joint skills. They won’t know what hit them.”

As if on cue— some horrible, unfortunate cue— the door opens (metal, Suki notes, so they’re definitely in a bunker somewhere) and the duo squeeze their eyes against the sudden flash of light.

“Get them up,” says one of the voices, deep and rough. Suki can’t catch his face from behind the light but she can see the faces of his two henchmen. She squints to see them better as they tug her and Zuko up, their bodies following each other from the way they’re tied together— ropes binding their arms together and ropes around their wrists.

 _Well, that’s a mistake they made_ , Suki thinks.

“Are you kidding me?” Suki scoffs, “ _You_ guys again?” 

The man in front of her shows his teeth, snarling at her as he tightens his grip on her arm.

“Hey, loosen it up a bit, would you?” she retorts, stopping herself from knocking her head into his. She had to wait it out.

“Nice to see you again, Fire Lord,” their leader says and Suki rolls her eyes at her dismissal. 

“Hello, Yuri,” Zuko greets back in monotone. 

The man— Yuri— steps closer to them, the light of the torches lighting his face. They’ve faced this man before. Suki knows the uneven line of his jaw and the scars dotting his face from years of fights. She’s surprised that the crime boss was even still alive at this point; she thought Kuei’s had it all taken care of, but apparently handling the bustling crime in his kingdom was too much of him to handle.

“How long has it been?” The smirk on Yuri’s face is greasy. “A year?”

“Three years, actually,” Suki answers for him, turning her attention towards him with a mocking smile. He bares his teeth at her and she takes a hold on the ropes binding her to prepare her. She taps her finger against Zuko’s open palm in code.

_You ready?_

He taps back.

 _Always_.

“Trying to assassinate me again, Yuri?” Zuko sighs, his long hair falling in front of his face as he shakes his head in disappointment.

“Six years on the throne and you have proved that you are not fit for the throne.”

Suki snorts and coughs to hide her laughter.

“Actually, my approval rates are actually pretty high.” 

Yuri’s getting mad now, Suki can tell, and she tightens her muscles in preparation. He doesn’t say anything for a couple moments then finally, hums to himself and waves his hand at the other henchmen in the room.

“I’ve wasted enough of my time on you. Kill them.”

And at that moment, Suki leans her weight on Zuko as he leans forward and she lifts her feet off the ground to kick the man in front of her away from her. 

They take turns leaning against each other as they use the only free limbs they have. Zuko lifts his leg to sweep fire towards the goon fighting him, and Suki uses her legs to twist and trip the man she’s fighting. They make a good team, moving almost as if they share the same brain, and it puts them at an advantage. 

Zuko sees Yuri come at them from his peripheral and in a split second, makes a decision. 

“Suki! Stay low!”

Suki’s eyes widen for a moment before she follows Zuko’s eyeline, sees all three men lunge at them again, and tucks her chest towards her legs, letting Zuko use her as a counterbalance as he spews fire in a semi-circle around them. Yuri and his men catch on fire and they watch, sweaty and heaving as their bodies turn to ashes.

“I’m so tired of people trying to kill you,” Suki thinks out loud.

The baritone of Zuko’s raspy chuckle is a nice comfort after everything.

“Imagine how I feel.”

They stand up and Zuko burns the ropes binding their arms together, Suki sighing in relief once they fall to the floor.

“I hope Iroh has a lot of honey cakes and green tea leftover because after all this, I think I need them,” Suki mumbles. The firebender carefully burns the ropes off her wrists and she rubs them to rid the joints of the ache. 

“I think he’ll have them for us. We should probably have someone get the warriors to head there, huh?”

Suki huffs, wiping the sweat off her face and smearing what’s left of her face paint in the process. “I’ll have Ty Lee and Kaida on patrol later. We’ll have to tell King Kuei about this.

Zuko shakes his head and with his bindings off, opens his arms to bring Suki in a tight embrace.

“You alright?” he asks her. She brings her arms up to hug him back and buries her face in his neck, his loose long hair tickling her nose. 

“I should be asking you that. They tried to kill you again.”

Zuko scoffs, his lips quirking. “They can keep trying.”

They break apart and Suki scrunches her nose at the stench of burning corpses as they make their way back into the light.

“Hey.”

The warrior looks up at the Fire Lord, who smiles at her softly.

“Thanks. For having my back.”

Suki rolls her eyes and grins, knocking her elbow against his arm.

**“You’ll always have me.”**

v.

Being Fire Lord meant Zuko always had to be at his best. He needed to be awake and alert at all times, ready to face the challenges of life at court and back-to-back meetings with his advisors. He always took care of his body, kept it healthy by eating and (most of the time) sleeping well and exercising daily by sparring with the warriors or even just practicing his bending alone. Being sick meant being a couple days behind his work and having to stress about it later, so it was quite unfortunate for him to catch a cold the week before his presentation ball. 

The presentation ball was named aptly for its exact reason— to “present” him with court ladies and other royalty in hopes that he will accept one of them as his wife, or a husband if he ever preferred since changing the laws against homosexuality at the start of his reign. This ball would’ve been unnecessary had he still been with Mai but they'd been broken up for years and as he was nearly 23, the court and his advisors were nervous over the line of succession. The ball was basically a match-making event and his advisors needed him at the top of his game in the days leading up to it.

Too bad he was bedridden. 

“Dear Agni, you look horrible.”

“Thanks, Ty Lee. I really needed that,” Zuko rasps flatly. 

He watches from his bed as the warriors— his _friends_ — crowd into his suite. Ty Lee and Suki make their way over to him, the former skipping over and pressing a loud kiss on his sweaty, matted hair. The others sit themselves comfortably on his sofas and the cushions on the floor while the two women he’s known the longest take their spots on his ginormous bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Suki asks, sitting next to Zuko and raising the back of her hand against his forehead.

“Like I’ve been thrown in a volcano,” he answers. Suki smiles ruefully and reaches over to his bedside to grab the wet towel from its place in a bowl of cold water and place it on his forehead.

Zuko sighs in relief at the sharp coolness and closes his eyes.

“So who do you think is gonna be at the ball next week?” Ty Lee asks with laughter in her voice, lying on her stomach and resting her chin on her hands. 

“Ty Lee,” Suki scolds.

“Whaaaaat? I’m just asking,” the younger girl whines with the smile still on her face.

Zuko, despite the pain in his chest, chuckles at their antics.

“You gossip too much, Ty.”

“It’s a wonderful way to pass the time _and_ it’s a great way to find out any suspicious activity around court.”

“Actually,” Suki tilts her head in thought. “She’s actually right about that one. The maids and the heiresses know an awful lot about what goes on in the palace and around the Caldera. The girls and I eavesdrop sometimes and you wouldn’t believe just how many close calls we’ve avoided by doing that.”

Zuko raises his head off the pillow a couple inches to look at her better. “Really? How many close calls?”

“About five times in the past three years alone, believe it or not,” Aiko answers from her spot on the floor. The other warriors around her nod their heads and hum in agreement.

“That’s… Huh.”

“It’s a skill,” Ty Lee says with a grin. 

Zuko starts to drift off to the sounds of the girls around him conversing with each other about the most inconsequential of things; he hears them talk about what they’re planning to wear at the ball, what they should focus on at their next sparring session, then they start gossiping about the happenings around the palace, like how Lady Biyu’s youngest son wreaking havoc on Fire Nation court is the most entertaining thing they’ve all seen since the last time Sokka visited and accidentally got tangled up with Advisor Chu’s daughters, or how Lady Arisu’s dress next week is going to be made out of rare imported silks from Gaoling. 

Zuko’s eyes close and with a soft sigh, falls asleep.

*

When he wakes again, there’s no more sunlight streaming into the room and there’s significantly less noise around him. 

He brings himself to sit up against his elbows as he looks around the room. The sheets to his left are rumpled from where Ty Lee sat and the other warriors are lying haphazardly where they sat hours ago with blankets thrown over them and their limbs all splayed on top of each other. Zuko watches the scene fondly, a pang in his chest from how touched he is that they’re all here while he’s sick, guarding him even when they didn’t have to.

His heart beats further at the warrior at his bedside though.

Suki, who’s sitting on a chair at his bedside, has her head in her arms as she snores softly, the moonlight coming in through his open balcony doors casting shadows against her pale skin. He tries to shift back into a lying position with as little movement as he can to avoid waking her up but the effort’s fruitless as he descends into a coughing fit.

Suki comes to slowly and in a blink of an eye, she goes from hazy to alert and she reaches over to help him.

“Hey, hey. Don’t strain yourself,” she tells him with a soft voice.

“I was just checking in on everybody,” he tells her, “Where’s Ty Lee?”

Suki takes the damp cloth from his forehead and dips it back in the bowl of cold water a few times. “Her and Rin are on the patrol shift for the night.”

“They don’t have to. All of you are in here and I’m pretty sure none of you are deep sleepers.”

Suki scoffs as she squeezes the cloth of extra water. “Actually, Miu and Rin are, which is why they always have the afternoon shifts. Plus, they wanted to.”

Zuko stays silent at that, not knowing what to say to the fact that there are people willingly choosing to spend their hours protecting him. He’s well aware that it’s technically the warriors’ job to guard him but sleeping in piles around his suite while he’s sick wasn’t exactly in the job description. 

“We’re your friends, Zu. You know we’d do anything for you,” Suki reassures him, taking his hand. 

Zuko sighs. “I know, I know. It just— it surprises me sometimes.”

“Well, get used to it.”

Zuko hums at that. He lets out a heavy breath when Suki places the damp cloth on his forehead again, her light fingers brushing away the bangs there. They say nothing for a while; only the sounds of soft snoring and Suki humming fill the space between them as the warm summer night breeze wafts in. 

Zuko’s eyelids start to get heavy again, his mind beginning to go fuzzy with sleep.

“I should go and get the girls,” Suki whispers in the dark, her fingers still brushing his hair on their own accord. 

**“Stay with me.”**

Suki’s hands go still at his temple. “Zu…”

Zuko’s words start to slur. “Please.”

The captain slowly takes her hand back and nods, the chair scraping slowly against the floor as she pads her way over to the other side of the bed. Zuko, nearly unconscious once again, barely registers her climbing over the mattress to settle only a small distance away from him. She settles on her side, resting her hands beneath her cheek. She blinks at him and the moonlight makes her blue eyes shine brighter.

“Good night, Zuko.”

With the last of his consciousness, he whispers back, “Good night, Suki.”

+i.

There was a sea of color across the ballroom, beautiful silks of reds and greens and golds, and even some blues. There was a speckle of oranges mixed within the crowd as well, bright and obvious among the darks.

The Fire Lord had also invited Team Avatar to the soiree and they were in the crowd somewhere, mingling with the other elites. 

Zuko had gotten over his sickness quite quickly to everyone’s surprise. It only took him a couple days before he was back up and running around the palace. He thinks it might have to do with the Kyoshi warriors and how they incessantly pushed him to let them take care of him. Even the palace nurses found it entertaining how their Fire Lord was being herded around by his own personal guard that they simply just gave Suki Zuko’s medicine and left them at it. 

Now, he was here sweating underneath layers of silks and satins trying to entertain the ladies of the court enough to satisfy his advisors who were not so subtly eyeing him from the corners of the large hall. 

“Zuko, my man, you need to loosen up!”

Zuko lets out a small ‘oof’ as Sokka throws his arm around his shoulder. 

“That’s kinda hard to do right now, Sokka,” the firebender sighs, lifting his head to nod respectfully to a passing dignitary.

“It’s your party! Aren’t you supposed to be finding someone to marry and make babies with ASAP?”

Zuko shuts his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose with a groan. “Yes, Sokka, thank you for that.”

The nonbender raises his hands in a surrendering motion with a chuckle. “Maybe I should bring Aang over to convince you to down some more wine.”

Zuko turns his head quickly, his eyes wide. “Do not—”

“Boys…”

Sokka and Zuko turn their attention towards the voice. The firebender’s stomach lurches. 

“Suki!” Sokka says first, leaning over to give her an embrace. It’s friendly between them, no hard feelings from their breakup years ago.

Suki’s dressed in Fire Nation colors, more gold than red, to blend in with the crowd. All the Kyoshi warriors were dressed similarly, making their rounds around the room in inconspicuous colors to better keep an eye on any potential threats. Her dress is high-necked with maroon detailings down her kimono sleeves, the skirt loose and slim to allow for easy maneuvering if she needed. 

She was beautiful under the bright chandeliers of the high ceilings, soft features that had chiseled with adulthood accentuated by her short hair, styled to fit the formality of the event.

“It’s nice to see you, Sokka. How are the trade talks with Kuei?” she asks him with a large smile on her face.

“Kuei’s a softie; he’s barely one to push through. The treaties are gonna be signed by the end of the month, I can feel it.”

Suki laughs. “Congratulations!” She turns to the Fire Lord then, still grinning. “You look good, Zu. Shouldn’t you be out on the dancefloor trying to convince one of these ladies that being Fire Lady is a _wonderful_ lifelong dedication?”

Sokka snickers behind his hand as Suki crosses her arms with a cock of her hip. Zuko blushes, cheeks growing as red as his robes. 

“I don’t think any of them actually want to do the duties that come with being Fire Lady,” he mumbles.

“Riiiight, they only want to _be_ Fire Lady,” Suki fills in for him, “But still, shouldn’t you be out dancing? At least to try to make your advisors happy.”

The Fire Lord grimaces. “Already did. I think I scared them away when I stepped on a couple of their toes.”

Sokka and Suki hiss through their teeth in secondhand embarrassment. “Yeah, that’ll definitely reel them in,” Sokka says.

Zuko groans and brings his hands up to his face. 

“Wait, Suki here’s a great dancer. Dance with her! She can probably teach you a couple last minute things,” Sokka suggests, waving his hand towards the captain. 

Both Suki and Zuko freeze. They try to rebuke, words stuttering over each other.

“He doesn’t have to do that—”

“She’s busy—”

“I’m on duty—”

“I have to, uh, go talk to—”

Sokka simply rolls his eyes and shoves the two of them towards the dancefloor, a large open space in the middle of the ballroom where multiple others were already gearing up for a slower dance. “I don’t know what’s up with you two. Just _go_.”

He shoves them until they’re at the edge of the dancefloor and when Suki looks back to reprimand him, he’s gone. She’s left standing side to side with the Fire Lord, her face warm and heart beating loudly.

Zuko coughs, takes a deep breath, and holds his hand out, palm up towards her. “Well, shall we?”

The warrior steels herself and takes his hand as the music starts. 

Whispers and the soft sounds of concealed laughter make their way around the room as they take position, and Suki tries not to take an offense against it as she feels everyone’s eyes on her.

“Hey,” Zuko whispers. Suki flits her eyes up and meets his golden ones as the hand holding hers squeezes, “Don’t pay attention to anyone else. Just focus on me, okay?”

Suki nods, then smiles weakly. “Try not to step on my toes.”

Zuko groans low enough for only her to hear and she giggles just as they make their first move. 

Skirts and sleeves twirl and sway around them as the band plays, strings and trumpets in harmony as they glide across the floor. A spin, a dip, then Suki’s pulled close, chest to chest with the firebender. He smirks at her before they part again, hands pressed together all the while. 

Everything disappears around them as they keep their eyes on each other, the sweat on their faces shining underneath the flames above. Blue stays focused on gold and everything slows. They can’t hear anything but their own breaths, stable and constant despite the physical activity, and their bodies move on their own accord, to their own song, as if they were communicating wordlessly with each other.

But it’s always been like that between them. 

Years of fighting and being by each other’s sides at all hours of every day created this unspoken connection between them. They didn’t need words to check up on each other, didn’t need words when they were fighting together. They were each other’s best friends; they knew everything about the other.

When the song ends, they’re pressed chest to chest, heaving against each other. Zuko’s breath fans against Suki’s face. Her mouth, lined red and open slightly to take in more air, stutters around airy words. 

“Zuko…” she trails off, confused as to what to say to this tether between them that she’s known has been building up for the past couple years.

She can feel him start to lean his head down towards her and she cranes her head upward. “Suki—” 

They’re broken apart by the sudden wave of clapping and cheering around them and Suki flushes. Zuko tries to reach for her as she starts to walk out of the crowd.

“Suki, wait—”

“I— I need to check on the others—”

“Suki, please—!”

He’s blocked by elites mobbing around him, complimenting him, recommending their daughters for the next dance, and he loses sight of his best friend. He sighs in disappointment before plastering a fake smile on his face and giving his attention to the other women introduced to him, despite only one on his mind. 

*

He finds her later, late in the night, standing out on the balcony overlooking his mother’s turtleduck pond. His steps are gentle as he walks towards her quietly. There’s a frown on her face, her elbows resting against the balustrade.

“Hey,” he calls out softly. 

Suki jumps and her hands rush up towards her face to wipe at her cheeks.

“Zuko! Hey, uh, I didn’t see you there,” she says weakly, keeping her eyes down. Her fingers play with the cloth of her gown as she avoids meeting his eyes. 

“That was kinda the point,” he mumbles back, coming up beside her. He keeps his attention on her but she’s back at staring at the pond below, jaw clenched and body tense. 

Silence passes between them while the night creatures sing around them and the noise from inside carries outside. A nervous energy forms around them both like a bubble. For the first time since they became close, Zuko doesn’t know what to say to his best friend.

“Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” he tells her, a furrow between his brow.

Suki pivots towards him, still keeping her hold on the railing. “What? No, no you didn’t— you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s—” Suki sighs, “It’s all me. I’m sorry.”

Zuko takes her hand and Suki gasps at the sudden touch. “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

Suki takes her hand back and she sniffs, taking a step back. She keeps her arms close to her body as she avoids looking at the sadness in his face.

“Shouldn’t you be inside? You’re supposed to be looking for a wife.”

“That’s not really my focus right now—”

“Well, it should be.”

Zuko shuts his mouth at the sudden hostility in her voice. It takes him a moment to find the words to say.

“Is this about our dance earlier?”

Suki stays silent.

The beating in Zuko’s chest quickens. 

“I’m sorry about that,” he says, “I didn’t mean to—”

“No, I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve stopped myself.”

With every word Suki says, the firebender keeps getting surprised. “Stopped yourself from doing what?”

“From kissing you.”

Zuko says nothing. 

Suki keeps her eyes on the ground, her voice unstable. “I wanted to kiss you and I should’ve stopped myself because you’re supposed to be looking for someone to marry and I’m just your bodyguard and…” she deflates and finally meets his eyes, her blue ones shiny with held-in tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?” is the only thing that comes out of Zuko’s mouth and he shuts his eyes because that definitely wasn’t what he wanted to say. 

Suki laughs flatly, tears in her voice. “You’re my best friend. I can never lose you, even if I have to watch you love someone else.”

Zuko, stunned, gapes his mouth as Suki— beautiful, strong Suki— cries for him, cries _over_ him.

She loves him. She loves _him_. 

Without even thinking it through, he takes the few steps needed to stand in front of her and holds her head in his hands, her own coming up to hold onto his wrists as if to feel if he was real. Zuko leans down to press his forehead against hers and now it’s both of them that are silently crying, laughing through their tears.

“Please,” Zuko begs, “Please let me do this.”

He doesn’t need to explain himself.

Suki nods her head incessantly. “Yes. _Yes.”_

Zuko doesn’t want to breathe ever again. He kisses her and tastes the salt of her tears and the tang of her lipstick and _her._ Her lips are soft and plush and so gentle against his; his that tasted like the wine being served inside.

Suki’s hands crept up to tangle in his long hair, his arms making its way down to wrap around her waist, lifting her up. She giggles through their kiss and he silences her with his lips once again.

“I choose you. I don’t want anyone else,” Zuko rasps, before connecting their lips again.

Suki pulls her head back as she looks at him incredulously. “What?”

“I don’t want any of the women they’re presenting me with. They don’t know me like you do.”

Zuko’s eyes are pleading, his grip on her tight as if he thought she was going to run from him.

“Are you— Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Zuko kisses her quickly again. “Depends on what you’re going to say, otherwise this would be very embarrassing.” 

Suki mulls it over, her hands still where it’s buried in his hair. 

“Personally,” Zuko says out of the blue, “I think you’re very good at Fire Nation politics. You’ve quite warmed up to it since you moved here. And everyone loves you already, it wouldn’t really be such a stretch.”

Suki raises an eyebrow. “Your advisors wouldn’t mind that I’m Earth Kingdom?”

“You don’t have any benders in your family, right?”

“What? No, no. My family was all non-benders.”

“Then no, they won’t really mind. Much.”

The captain slaps his shoulder lightly and Zuko laughs. 

“Well?” Zuko asks, fingers coming up to brush against her cheek, “Do I get an answer?”

She raises herself on her tiptoes so she’s whispering her words against his lips. “Well, are you gonna ask me?”

Leaning his forehead against hers once again, Zuko looks into her eyes and asks, “Captain Suki of the Kyoshi warriors, will you do me the favor of letting me love you for the rest of our lives and be my Fire Lady?”

Suki grins widely and cups his cheeks to kiss him again. 

“Yes.”


End file.
